Pershing Square concerts are outdoor gigs and there was a big sign at the entrance that no video, no audio recording or no still photo were allowed! What? Why so much restriction for an outdoor gig? They even made an announcement before the show to reiterate it, stipulating it was at the request of the artists, but I never really believe this kind of things! Plus everyone had obviously an iPhone and was able to take pictures, so I gave it a try and managed to sneak my camera hidden in my jean jacket but felt like a criminal the whole time. This is a large place and people come there to picnic, some don’t even seem to care much for the music, sitting in their folding chairs during the whole show, but, as I tried to get as close to the stage as I could, I was surrounded by die hard fans, a group of very enthusiastic women who were dancing, shouting and raising their arms the whole time.
The Psychedelic Furs are part of these bands which were deep inside my psyche, I know the name of course, but I couldn’t remember much about them, but when they played ‘Ghost in You’, their third song of their set, I said a big mental ‘Of course!’ to myself. I guess I never paid too much attention to the post-punk-new-wave bands in the 80s, they weren’t not exactly part of my music library at the time, but they were part of the soundtrack of this period. There is no way you haven’t heard ‘Love my Way’ or the song for the Molly-Ringwald-driven-movie ‘Pretty in Pink’ if you were alive in the 80s. So I was watching them 2 or 3 decades after their peak – they broke up in the early 90s and their discography stops at 1991– and they still kicked ass. Their show was a dynamic mix of songs off five of their seven albums, with sax solos, synth loops, even an unusual clarinet and a trumpet, and Richard Butler’s theatrical gesture and raspy vocals. He was singing these 30-year-old hits as if they were brand new, and the woman in front of me was shouting every single lyrics to her 20-something daughter, who seemed to appreciate the music.
The set was filled with disco meets Bauhaus darkness fueled by Mars Williams’ sax such as ‘Heartbeat’ or ‘Wedding Song’, flash-back-from-the-80s-hit-radio like ‘Heartbreak Beat’, monochord vocals haunting dark dancefloors such as ‘Soap Commercial’ and post-punk propulsive tunes such as ‘Pulse’. It was a little bit The Smiths, the E street band, Blondie, David Bowie and Johnny Rotten, and it sure sounded musically eclectic and emotionally rich, with Butler’s vocals always staying at the top.
They concentrated on their older hits, because after such a long time this is what the crowd wanted to hear, and weren’t showing any sign of slowing down, moving a lot on stage, sounding good and looking good – bassist Tim Butler and Saxophonist Mars Williams kept their dark glasses the whole time. I was trying to take some pictures despite the ban on cameras, and even shooting some videos, hiding behind a few people, and hoping the security wouldn’t see me. Unfortunately for me, the two women in front of me were enjoying themselves a bit too much, raising their arms too many times, and not making my task easier.
The Furs had to come for an encore despite the late hour (Pershing Square is located downtown close to buildings and they probably have a curfew), and they had to do ‘Pretty in Pink’, at this point Butler’s accent had never sounded more atonal English. It probably is one of their most famous songs, but all their numbers were acclaimed with the same female shouting. Me? I was enjoying it the whole time, recognizing some songs I had forgotten I knew, trying to figure out Richard Butler’s place in the rock’ n’ roll hall of fame, finding him ageless and characterized with an interesting taste for mimicking the songs with grandiose gesture. I was trying to dig deep in my skull to find out when and where I had heard these songs, I don’t know why it mattered so much, but it may be because the Psychedelic Furs are such a music history piece.
Setlist
Highwire Days
Heartbeat
The Ghost in You
Wedding Song
Heartbreak Beat
Soap commercial
Little Miss World
Here Come Cowboys
Pulse
No easy street
Danger
All of This and Nothing
Love my Way
Mr. Jones
Wrong Train
Heaven
Encore
Pretty in Pink
Sleep Comes Down